By Fred Sgambati (’83)

When Dr. Bob Lucas (’68, ’69) decided to establish a bursary to support nursing students at Acadia, he had two things on his mind: a strong desire to help students through worrisome academic experiences; and something called ‘The Eleemosynary Fund’.

Early on in his career, as he was nearing completion of his doctoral studies at Oxford, where he and his wife had been living frugally on her modest salary and his equally modest stipend from a company interested in his research, his wife gave birth to their first child. He says, “with the consequent loss of her earning capacity, we found ourselves replacing that loss from our savings.  It was a simple calculation to predict when the savings would run out and equally simple to realize that would happen before my thesis defence occurred. Fortunately, my college, with its 700-year history, had a fund for these circumstances. It was delightfully named ‘The Eleemosynary Fund’ and the wording of its terms of reference was equally delightful: ‘…to provide assistance to students who find themselves in straitened circumstances….’  As you can tell from the wording, this was a fund that had been around for a long time.”

When Dr. Lucas learned Acadia was about to start a nursing program, he realized that there might not yet be money set aside to assist students who, like him, found themselves “in straitened circumstances.” His mother, a nurse, and his father, a medical researcher and recipient of an honorary degree from Acadia, were they still alive, would approve of the establishment of a fund to assist worthy nursing students.

“This fund – The Mary and Colin Lucas Bursary for Nursing Studies – is important to me because it will help students through otherwise worrisome academic experiences of a type with which I am personally familiar.  Furthermore, it will honour my parents’ names in perpetuity, and allows me to assist my beloved alma mater.”

Established in 2023, the bursary supports deserving students in the BScN program to complete their studies by awarding financial aid. Mary Elliott Lucas was born in Milton, Ontario in 1904 and studied nursing at the Vancouver General Hospital and the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, BC. Following qualification as a Registered Nurse in 1932, she began her career in health care. Colin Lucas was born in Winnipeg in 1903 and attended the University of British Columbia, where he earned BASc and MASc degrees. He later attended the University of Toronto, where he earned a PhD and worked in Medical Research until retiring in 1969. In 1964, Acadia awarded Colin an honorary DSc.

Mary and Colin married in 1942 and their son has honoured them through the establishment of this bursary. Bob graduated from Acadia with a BScH in Chemistry in 1968 and an MSc in Inorganic Chemistry in 1969. Further studies at Oxford University led to a DPhil in Organometallic Chemistry. Subsequently, he spent most of his career as Professor of Chemistry, Head of the Department of Chemistry and Dean of Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Dr. Lucas adds, “Acadia has a long tradition of contributing to the community in addition to providing a first-rate post-secondary education to local and non-local students. The new nursing program is but another example of Acadia’s contribution to the quality of life in Wolfville, the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia and beyond.  In particular, the shortage of nurses, and indeed other medical professionals, is acute and again, Acadia is stepping up to help fill a societal need.”

This summer, Dr. Lucas visited the Acadia campus as part of the All-’60s Reunion and had the opportunity to meet two of the first recipients of the Mary and Colin Lucas Bursary: Hannah Benedict, from Hants County, NS; and Salena MacDonald, Kings County, NS. Jessica Smith of Kings County has also been awarded the Mary and Colin Lucas Bursary for Nursing Studies.

“I was thrilled to have been given an opportunity to meet the two students,” Dr. Lucas says. “Once the ice was broken, they spoke with confidence and enthusiasm about their impending program and seemed to enjoy hearing some of my mother’s experiences as a doctor’s office, OR, ER and community nurse in the first third of the 20th century before antibiotics and other wonder drugs were available. I left the meetings confident that these students were eager to do well in their chosen profession and would bring merit to themselves and to Acadia in the years ahead.”

Salena says, “this is my second year of nursing, but my third year at Acadia. I took kinesiology in my first year, and selected the nursing program because I was interested in and excited about the new program.

“Receiving this bursary is a huge honour. Being recognized for my academics is very exciting, as I have struggled with school and learning. This bursary showed me that hard work does pay off, and I am so thankful for this opportunity and recognition.”

To learn more about the Mary and Colin Lucas Bursary for Nursing Studies, please click HERE.

Pictured with Dr. Bob Lucas ('68, '69): (top photo) Hannah Benedict, from Hants County, NS; and Salena MacDonald, Kings County, NS.